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Malaysian police deny Gareth Huntley fight reports

Police have denied that a former Bradford man who died in Malaysia was involved in a fight shortly before he went missing in the jungle, it has been reported.

Gareth Huntley's body was found on Wednesday after he disappeared during a trek to a waterfall on Tioman Island, off the south-eastern coast of the country's mainland.

The former pupil of Woodhouse Grove School in Apperley Bridge went missing on May 27 after telling people he was going for a trek to a waterfall.

Following an extensive search he was discovered in a pond, just yards from a kayak storage shed at the Juara Turtle Project where he had been volunteering, next to a row of cabins used by rescue teams during the search.

Police in the country said yesterday that they were investigating claims the 34-year-old was involved in a fight before he went missing.

It was reported that he may be have been murdered and there were claims that his throat had been cut.

But a senior police officer on the island has denied the suggestion, local newspaper the Malaysia Star said.

What they told me contradicts what the foreign reporter wrote. That report is inaccurate."

He told the newspaper that police were not ruling out foul play, but said the investigation was in its early days.

He said a post-mortem examination had revealed no external injuries.

Mr Huntley’s mother, Janet Southwell of Bradford, had travelled to the island to be close when her son was found.

In a statement, Mr Huntley’s family said: “We would like to thank everyone who came together in the last week to do everything in their power to help find Gareth. You have been extraordinary and we are deeply touched and deeply grateful.”

The cause of death has not yet been established.

Mr Huntley, of Hackney, east London, who is originally from the Bradford area, was on a sabbatical.

His family mounted a high-profile campaign to intensify a search for him after he failed to return from his trek.